Playground Strength Training

Thursday, April 12, 2012

I've pretty much conquered most of my food demons. (More accurately, I've learned to live with them.) I've got the Cardio thing down. But I really, really, really hate strength training. Sets and Reps are boring. I know I *should* do it. I know it is the missing component in my transformation to Athletic Superhero. But every time those little items come up on my fitness tracker, I suddenly have something else to do: laundry, clean the bathroom, and oh, look, DH is watching the Daily Show, quality time is important too, right?

Today, I did almost everything on the "Lower Body" list while Child was on the playground , and threw in a few more (I'll list everything below, for those looking for ideas). This is something I can see myself doing with a bit more regularity than my current practice: which involves equal doses of threats, bribery and guilt. And I still only do it about once every 2 weeks.

As the weather gets nicer and Child and I spend more time at the playground, this is the perfect opportunity for me to allocate my time to ST when I would otherwise be doing...nothing. I have the Child count for me, because this way he feels involved. For those looking for a dose of HIT, use the time between sets to chase your particular child around the playground.

Hey, the fat won't melt itself. Whatever it takes, ya know?

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What I did :

Skater Jumps (kind of like a lateral lunge only with a hop from one foot to another)
Single leg squats
Wall sit (like a wall squat but you just stay down and feel the burn)
Hip Flex & extend
Leg Abduction (away from centerline)
Incline pushups - (I used a platform at bench height)
Airplane Pose
Stretching!

Yes, playgrounds are not just for kids :) I use them whenever I can. I love your list, think I'll try some of those too. I also love push offs, find a bench, fence top, anything just above the belly and do push ups, but push off completely and lower down to full push up. Works all the muscles in he chest, feels good.

It's funny that we all have our comfort zones. I hate doing anything with legs, but lifting with arms makes me feel like a superhero. What about some 3 or 5 pounders that you could bring with you to the park? You're doing great!

That is GREAT! As I have whined about before, I hate exercising and have to trick myself into it all the time. Playground strength training is just brilliant. Now if I only had a child and a playground near by...